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| Left to right: Taylor Schilling and Ruby Rose |
Welcome to the recap series on the third season of the Jenji Kohan Netflix hit Orange is the New Black. Over the next few weekends (Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays) we will be looking through the episodes and highlighting the events that make this comedy/drama a stand-out in general TV. Does the series have what it takes to make another phenomenal season of TV, and can the tales of Piper Chapman and her inmates satisfy expansion? Stay tuned and make sure to follow along at your own pace.
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| Taryn Manning |
Litchfield finally gets interrogated for the Jewish problem. As they weed out who is and isn't religious, Leanne (Emma Myles) decides to try and start a new religious group. Sophia (Laverne Cox) forms a feud with Gloria (Selenis Leyva) when they discover that their children fought each other. Piper (Taylor Schilling) is having success with her used underwear business. Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning) is being lured in by a new guard, who decides to make out with her when they are away from the prison. Red (Kate Mulgrew) openly admits that she is tired of being associated with lackluster food, causing her own set of feuds with Gloria. Soso (Kimiko Glenn) continues to look for companionship. Sophia discovers that Gloria's son didn't actually fight him. Alex (Laura Prepon) discovers that Lolly (Lori Petty) has plans to murder people. Piper finds that she may in fact be in love with Stella (Ruby Rose).
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| Emma Myles |
Flashback
It is revealed that Leanne is actually Amish. During her Rumspringa, she becomes affiliated with a series of drug dealers. As she tries to live the normal life, she is caught by police when they find drugs with her identification card on it. This leads them to strike a deal with her that if she wears a wire and rats out her friends, they will let her go. Meanwhile, she is at home and having difficulty with her family. They aren't making the most money and are suffering through various hardships. While she goes through with it, she now has a family life that isn't quite as wholesome as she would have liked, realizing that the non-Amish lifestyle is more appealing to her.
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| Selenis Leyva |
MVP:
Gloria (Selenis Leyva)
There's a lot of fighting among the cooks in the kitchen. Whether it is messing with Red or Sophia, Gloria comes strong this week with her various arguments. She is being challenged as both a mother and a worker. In both cases, she remains strong and faithful to her opinion. With the world struggling to stay together around her, she makes the most of it and continues to strive on towards potential success. It may not be the best environment, but at least she can do her part to make it better.
Overall Thoughts
We are so far into the season that it is amazing to note the lack of conflict that has really happened. Sure, we get Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba) writing funny erotic fiction. However, what is this all amounting to? It feels like the stories that do matter: the food, the prison, and the underwear; they're largely inconsequential and at best redundant matters. Thankfully, the cast is still enjoyable. With a few episodes in, the presence and hype about the Piper/Stella relationship feels rather tacked on. To call this a bad season is to miss the point of its environmental feel. These are mere stories, and the binge watching nature of the show is starting to wear heavy on its format. However, it is still entertaining - save for Piper's increasingly terrible story. That alone may give it extra points when we get to the finish line in a few episodes. However, bonus points for trying to pass Annie Hall as a sign that Cindy (Adrienne C. Moore) is in fact Jewish.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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